Ellingtonia, Vol. Two

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Ellingtonia, Vol. Two
Ellingtonia Two.png
Compilation album by
ReleasedJune 8, 1944
Recorded1928–1931
Genre Early swing, Ellingtonian jazz
Label Brunswick
Duke Ellington chronology
Smoke Rings
(1944)
Ellingtonia, Vol. Two
(1944)
Black, Brown, and Beige
(1946)

Ellingtonia, Vol. Two is a compilation album of phonograph records assembled by Brunswick Records during the American Federation of Musicians strike, cataloguing the famed early recordings of Duke Ellington on Brunswick and Vocalion Records. During the later Swing era, the recordings were praised for accurately predicting the developments in the Big band genre several years in advance. [1]

Phonograph record disc-shaped vinyl analog sound storage medium

A phonograph record is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. At first, the discs were commonly made from shellac; starting in the 1940s polyvinyl chloride became common. In recent decades, records have sometimes been called vinyl records, or simply vinyl or even vinyls.

Brunswick Records US record label

Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916.

On August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians, at the instigation of union president James C. Petrillo, began a strike against the major American recording companies because of disagreements over royalty payments. Beginning at midnight, July 31 1942, no union musician could make commercial recordings for any commercial record company. That meant that a union musician was allowed to participate on radio programs and other kinds of musical entertainment, but not in a recording session. The 1942–44 musicians' strike remains the longest strike in entertainment history.

Contents

Reception

After Decca Records purchased the Brunswick and Vocalion metal master records, the first volume of Ellingtonia became the series' premiere release, and was well-reviewed by Billboard magazine. This second edition focuses more on Ellington's forays into longer-length pieces.

Decca Records US/British record label

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, along with American Decca's first president Jack Kapp and later American Decca president Milton Rackmil. In 1937, anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca and the link between the UK and U.S. Decca labels was broken for several decades. The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group, which is owned by Vivendi, a media conglomerate headquartered in Paris, France. The US Decca label was the foundation company that evolved into UMG.

<i>Billboard</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style, and is also known for its music charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular songs and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

Keeping in pattern with the first volume, again the labels replaced group names originally accredited instead of or alongside Ellington, such as the or his Kentucky Club Orchestra, Washingtonians, Cotton Club Orchestra, and the commonly used pseudonym The Jungle Band with simply Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.

Cotton Club jazz club

The Cotton Club was a popular New York City nightclub from 1923 to 1940. It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, then briefly in midtown Theater District (1935-1940) The club operated during the United States' era of Prohibition and Jim Crow era racial segregation. Black People could not initially patronize the Cotton Club, but the venue featured many of the most popular black entertainers of the era, including musicians Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Willie Bryant; vocalists Adelaide Hall, Ethel Waters, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Aida Ward, Avon Long, the Dandridge Sisters, the Will Vodery Choir, The Mills Brothers, Nina Mae McKinney, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and dancers such as Katherine Dunham, Bill Robinson, The Nicholas Brothers, Charles 'Honi' Coles, Leonard Reed, Stepin Fetchit, the Berry Brothers, The Four Step Brothers, Jeni Le Gon and Earl Snakehips Tucker.

The first three discs' A-side and B-sides remain unchanged from their original pressings – Brunswick 6093, 4328 and 3987. "Jazz Convulsions" and "Awful Sad" originally appeared on Brunswicks 4705 and 4110. According to Joel Whitburn, only "Creole Rhapsody" charted, hitting number 18 over a two-week chart stay. [2]

Track listing

These previously issued songs, were featured on a 4-disc, 78 rpm album set, Brunswick B-1011.

Disc 1: (80047)

  1. "Creole Rhapsody – Part 1", recorded January 20, 1931.
  2. "Creole Rhapsody – Part 2", recorded January 20, 1931. [3]

Disc 2: (80048)

  1. "Tiger Rag – Part 1", recorded January 8, 1929.
  2. "Tiger Rag – Part 2", recorded January 8, 1929. [3]

Disc 3: (80049)

  1. "Yellow Dog Blues", recorded June 5, 1928.
  2. "Tishomingo Blues", recorded June 5, 1928. [3]

Disc 4: (80050)

  1. "Jazz Convulsions", recorded September 13, 1929.
  2. "Awful Sad", recorded October 10, 1928. [3]

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References

  1. "Biography by William Ruhlmann". Allmusic . Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2015). Pop Memories, The History of American Popular Music 1900-1940.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Brunswick 80000 Re-Issue series - numerical listing". 78discography.com. The Online Discographical Project. Retrieved 13 May 2019.